Device for transferring knitted fabrics



June 30, 1925. Y 1,544.085

L. N. D. WILLIAMS DEVICE FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRICS Filed Fglq. 23 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fl :15 m llZ x 2 f x 6 Ali W1 TI VESSES: o I IN VEN TOR:

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P v BY I I: I J 3 TTORNEYS.

'June'"30, 1925. 1 544,085

L. N. D. WILLIAMS DEVICE FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED mamas Fil e 25, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 5Q iiiiiiiiu 'ZL/ a: w

l INVENTOR:

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June 30, 1925. I 1,544,085

L. N. D. WILLIAMS DEVICE FOR TRANSFERRING KNITTED FABRIC File Feb 25, 19213 5 Sheos-Sheet 5 FIG: JJ

7 INVENTOR: Lom's iillWillmms,

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Patented June 30, 1925.

UNITED STATES LOUIS D. WILLIAMS, OF OGONTZ, PEFNSYLITAMA.

DEVICE FOR TRANSFERBING 'KNITTED FABRICS.

Application filed February 23, 1923. Serial No. 620,589.

had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relatesto devices for trans 4 ferring knitted fabrics, more especially to a type useful in connection with hosiery manufacture, for example, in running on ribbed tops of half hose upon the needles of machines known as footers for the purpose of producing leg and foot portions in continuation. I

My invention has for its. primary'object the provision of a transfer device, which, in addition to facilitating impalement of the fabric loops or stitches upon the needles of the machine whereto transfer is to be made,

is further capable of inducing a slight lateral movement relatively of the needles and the stitches, subsequent to impalement of the latter, so that the outer runs of the stitches are positioned within the needle hooks. This desideratum I attain in a transfer device which is entirely self contained, and which can be used with standard makes of knitting machines without requiring any special additions or changes whatever in them. Amongst the advantages obtainable through my invention are, speedy accomplishment of transfer, absolute positiveness in retainment of the fabric stitches-by the needles of the knitting machine so that they device may be withdrawn without possibility of stitch dropping, and avoidance of the necessity for exerclse of special dexterity or skill on the part of the operatives in accomplishing the transfer operation,these considerations taken collectively serving toward greater economy in manufacturing.

Other objects and attendant advantages will become readily apparent from the detailed description which follows of several different alternative forms in which my invention is capable of being embodied; while the scope thereof will be as readily apparent from the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figures T, H, III and TV are sectional views of a transfer device illustrating my invention in one embodiment, the successive figures showing sequential steps in the transfer operation; and

I Figures V, VI and VII are similar illustrations of various modified forms of my invention which will be explained separately as the description proceeds.

Hereinafter, for convenience, the loops, stitches, or other bights of yarn of the knitted fabric will be referred to simply as stitches and, for the same reason, certain later-to-be described stitch receiving points or quills of the transfer device will be, at all times, termed quills. I

Referring first to the type of m invention illustrated to Figures I to IV 0 the drawings, the transfer device is shown as comprising a cylindrical frame 1 having at one end'an enlarged flange head 2 from which project downwardly, a circular series of stitch receiving and holding uills 3, said quills being fluted or channel ed as represented.

Each quill 3 is ada ted to be aligned with one of the needles 0 the knitting machine to which the fabric is to be transferred, and, for purposes of clarit in the drawings, only those quills and need es at diametrically opposite sides are illustrated. By preference, the quills are disposed in convergent relation as shown, so that they will automatically aid in centering the transfer device on the needle bed, and, at the same time, limit the descent of the quills upon the needles.

Guided for longitudinal shifting within the channel ofeach quill 3 is a slide 5, which I will for convenience term a needle spreader jack, provided with a wedge or cam shaped lower end. 6. The upper end of each slide 5 is provided with a laterally inturnedextension or butt 8 which is engaged within a circumferential groove in a flange head 9 of a sleeve 10 slidably mounted upon the outside of the cylindrical frame 1. The normal relation of these parts is with the sleeve 10 raised to its uppermost position with the jacks 5, consequently retracted in the quills 3. In order to facilitate manipulation of the sleeve 10, it may be provided at its upper end with an out-turned flange 11 which can be easily grasped; or it may be equipped with a central transverse rod or bar 12 the ends of which pass through slots 13 in the circular frame 1, said slots serving to limit theextent of vertical movement of the sleeve.

In Figure I is shown the first stage of the transferring process, wherein the transfer device, upon the quills 3 of which are carried the stitches m of the fabric to be transferred, is placed in proper transferring relation to the needles 4 of the knitting machine. In bringing about this relation, the device is lowered onto the needle bed of the machine, so that the hook of each need! 4 enters the lower open end of the corresponding quill 3 and enetrates the stitch it? carried by said quil In order to permit free passage of the hook of the needle through the stitch, the diameter of the quill circle is so proportioned with respect to the diameter of the needle circle that each needle will pass through the center of a stitch.

In Figure II is shown the next stage of the transferring process, wherein the sleeve 10 is depressed with respect to the frame 1. Such depression causes outward projection of the jacks 5 toward the ends of the quills 3, so that the Wedge-like ends of the jacks engage the corresponding needles 4 from the rear. This causes outward fiexure of the upper ends of the needles, or what may be termed, spreading of the needle circle. The jacks 5, it will be noted, are so proportioned that the lateral thrust induced is such as to bring the needle hooks to a position to overhan the outer runs of the stitches w.

T e next step in the process is shown in Figure III from which it will be observed that incidental to lifting the transfer device for removal, the stitches w are raised as a result of the drag upon them exerted by the quills 3 which they embrace. The outer run "of each stitch w is thus positively engaged in the hook of the corresponding needle 4.

Consequently as the transfer device is further lifted to entirely clear the needles as illustrated in Figure IV, the stitches m v are stripped from the quills 3, while the needles 4, as a result of having been freed from engagement with the jacks 5, return to the normal position through their inherent flexibility.

By virtue of the fact that the needles are flexed outwardly so that their hooks are in vertical alignment with the outer runs of the stitches carried by the quills, it is impossible for a stitch to be carried, by the quill, away from the needle during removal of the device, so that stitch dropping cannot possibly occur. Furthermore, by 'makmg the needle spreading mechanism selfcontained with the transfer device as heren shown, and with each individual spreader ack guided in a'quill, so as to be auto-- matically aligned in cooperative relation with the respective needle, the device may be used with standard forms of knitting machines without requiring any changes whatever in them.

During removal of the ty of transfer device just described from t e needle bed, the needles gradually return from their expanded position to the normal as a result of the angular disposition of the jacks 5. In some cases it may be desirable to maintain the needles in expanded position until the removal of the transfer device is practically completed, In such instances, a transfer device of the type illustrated in Figure V may be employed to advantage. ThlS type is generally similar to the first described form and differs only in the fact that the quills 3 and spreader jacks 5 are disposed in a true vertical position. In the use of the modified structure, after the needle ring has been expanded by the projection of the jacks 5*, it will be at once apparent that the needles will remain in such position during all but the last stage of the removal of the transfer ring thereby rendering engagement of the hooks of the needles with the stitches still more positive as may be re uired in extremely fine gauge machines.

11 the modification shown in Figure VI, the spreader jacks 5 instead of being slidable in the quills as in the previous instances, are mounted to swing about fixed pivots 15 approximate the top ends of said quills. normal position shown by a spring band 15 engaging notches inthe jacks, these notches registering with an annular groove in the head 2 provided to accommodate the spring. The lower ends 16, of the jacks are reduced to a taper as shown, to engage behind the needles as the 'device is mounted on the needle bed, while their upper ends 17 project above the flange head'2 of the frame 1", so as to be engageable by an internal peripheral cam slope 18 formed in a lateral annular projection 19 of a slide sleeve 10*,

which in all other respects is identical with the sleeve 10 of the previous form. From cursory inspection of Figure VI it will be observed that in depressing the sleeve 10", the sloping annular cam surface 18 will function to rock the jacks 5 about their ful- Sa'id jacks are maintained in the crums 15, the spring band 15 yielding to induced pressure with the result that the lower ends 16 of the. jacks are swung outwardly to shift the needle hooks over the stitches a: as before.

Stitch transfer may be effected in still another way within the scope of my invention, for example by use of a transfer structure such as shown in Figure VII. In this instance instead of flexing the needles to ensure the engagement of the stitches in the needle hooks, I simply reverse the process and move the stitches into the needle hooks. Here the uills 3 are so mounted in the head 2 0 the cylindrical frame 1 as to be swingable to bring the stitches held within the notches 20 at their lower ends, into the needle hooks. Such mounting is obviously ogn to considerable variation and may accomplished in the maaose very simple manner exemplified, by disposlng the uills for gui ance in radial slots 21 of t e head 2, and by providing them with rounded lateral projections 22 for engaging a circumferential retaining groove 23 in saidhead. One or more helical spring bands 24, some disposed within the groove 23and others in a supplemental groove 23 and engaging recesses or notches 25 in the uills, serve to hold the latter yieldingly in t e true vertical position determined by enforced engagement of their back edges with the inner walls or bases of the guide slots 21 in'the head 2. ,Movement of the quills is brought about by depression of the sleeve 10, which, in this instance, .is provided with a conical wedge flange 26 adapted to engage the upper protruding ends 27 of the uills. Thus as the sleeve is shifted downwar the quills are rocked about the lower corners of the inner walls of their guide slots21 so that their lower ends are swung inward to place the loops within the needle hooks as previously noted, the projections 22 serving incidentally to maintain the quills against vertical displacement 1 Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1 A device for transferring knitted fabrics including in combination, means adapted to be aligned with the needles of a knitting machine to facilitate impalement of the fabric stitches upon the needles, and incorporated means for subsequently relatively moving the stitches and needles laterally to position the stitches within the needle hooks.

2. A device for transferring knitted fabrics including in combination, means adapted to be aligned with the needles of a knitting machine to facilitate impalement of the fabric stitches upon the needles, and incorporated means for subsequently relatively moving the stitches and needles laterally to position the stitches within the needle hooks, and for maintaining this relation between the stitches and the needles during withdrawal of the device from the machine.

3. A device for transferring knitted fabrics including in combination, means adapted to be aligned with the needles of a knitting machine for holding the fabric stitches in an open or dilated condition to facilitate impalement of the stitches upon said needles, and incorporated means for subsequently moving the needles laterally within the open or dilated stitches to ensure engagement of their hooks with said stitches.

4. A self-contained device for transferring knitted fabrics adapted to be applied to the needles of a knitting machine, including in combination, 'a series of quills for temporarily holding the stitches in an open or dilated condition, to facilitate impalement of the fabric stitches upon the needles,

lia

and associated means instrumental subsequently, in shifting the needles laterally within the open or dilated stitches to ensure engagement of their hooks with said stitches.

5. A self-contained device for transferring knitted fabrics adapted to be applied to the needles of a knitting machine, including in combination, a series of quills for temporarily holding the stitches in an open 01' dilated condition to facilitate impalement of the fabric stitches upon the needles and associated means movable independently of the quills for subsequently shifting the needles laterally within the open or dilated stitches to ensure engagement of their hooks with said stitches.

6. A self-contained device for transfer,

lated stitches to ensure engagement of their hooks with said stitches.

7. A self-contained device for transferring knitted fabrics adapted to be applied to the needles of a knitting machine, including in combination, a series of slotted or fluted quills for temporarily holding the stitches in an open or dilated condition to facilitate impalement upon the needles, and associated means slidable within the fluted quills, for subsequently shifting the needles laterally within the open or dilated stitches to ensure engagement of their hooks with said stitches.

8. A self-contained device for transferring knitted fabrics adapted to be applied to the needles of a knitting machine, includ ing in combination, a series of slotted or fluted quills for temporarily holding the fabric stitches in an open or dilated condition to facilitate impalement upon the needles, jacks slidable within the fluted quills and having wedge shaped cam ends adapted to engage behind the needles subsequent to impalement of the fabric upon the latter, to shift the needles laterally within the open or dilated stitches to ensure engagement of their hooks with said stitches.

9. A self-contained device for transferring knitted fabrics adapted to be applied to the needle of a knitting machine including in combination, a frame with a series of projecting quills for temporarily holding the stitches of the fabric in an open or dilated condition to facilitate impalement upon the needles, jacks movable relative to the quills for subsequently flexing the neodles laterally within the open or distended stitches to ensure engagement of their hooks with the stitches, and means carried by said frame foreffecting simultaneous movement of the jacks.

10. A. self-contained device for transferring knitted fabrics to the needles of a circular knitting machine including in combination an annular series of quills for holding the stitches in an open or dilated condition to facilitate impalement upon the needles, and associated means for subsequently spreading the circle of needles within the open or dilated stitches .to ensure engagement of their hooks with said stitches.

11. A self-contained device for transferringx knitted vfabrics adapted to be applied to t e needles of a circular knitting machine including in combination, a cylindrical quently flexing the needles laterally Within the open or distended stitches to ensure engagement of their hooks with the stitches,

vand a sleeve shiftable upon the frame aforesaid for simultaneously moving the jacks.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- Vania, this 14th day of February, 1923.

LOUIS N. D. WILLIAMS. Witnesses:

JAMES H. BELL, E. L. Fmm'mn. 

